Growth of Carbon Nanotubes by Microwave Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown with a microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD) method, which has been regarded as one of the most promising candidates for the synthesis of CNTs due to the vertical alignment, the low temperature and the large area growth. MPECVD used methane ($CH_4$) and hydrogen ($H_2$) gas for the growth of CNTs. 10 nm thick Ni catalytic layer were deposited on the Ti coated Si substrate by RF magnetron sputtering method. In this work, the pretreatment was that the Ni catalytic layer in different microwave power (600, 700, and 800 W). After that, CNTs deposited on different pressures (8, 12, 16, and 24 Torr) and grown same microwave power (800 W). SEM (Scanning electron microscopy) images showed Ni catalytic layer diameter and density variations were dependent with their pretreatment conditions. Raman spectroscopy of CNTs shows that $I_D/I_G$ ratios and G-peak positions vary with pretreatment conditions.